Koodli Nanjunda Ghanapathi Shankara was a

space scientist The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to space science: Space science encompasses all of the scientific disciplines that involve space exploration and study natural phenomena and physical bodies occurring in oute ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. He was the Director of

ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman o ...

Space Applications Centre The Space Applications Centre (SAC) is an institution of research in Ahmedabad under the aegis of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is one of the major centres of ISRO that is engaged in the research, development and demonstrat ...

(SAC),

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per ...

and

ISRO Satellite Centre The U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), formerly ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) ( hi, इसरो उपग्रह केंद्र) is an Indian Space Research Organisation centre for the design, development, and construction of Indian satel ...

(ISAC),

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. He was the Director of Satellite Communications Program Office and Program Director, INSAT, and was looking after overall planning and direction of communication satellite program. His work in the field of transponder design and development led to a boost in India's communication satellite technology. For his contribution in the field of satellite technology, Shankara was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

by the government of India in 2004. He is said to be the person who conceptualized

Chandrayaan The Chandrayaan programme (), also known as the Indian Lunar Exploration Programme is an ongoing series of outer space missions by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The programme incorporates lunar orbiter, impactor, soft lander an ...

, India's first venture to Moon.

Early life

Shankara was born on 7 May 1945. He did his post-graduation in Physics and received his Doctorate in Electrical Communication Engineering from Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore in 1972. He died on 17 July 2017, at the age of 72.

Career

Shankara joined Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad in 1971 to work on the design and development of communication payloads. As Associate Project Director of INSAT- 2A and INSAT - 2B, he was responsible for the development transponders for these satellites. As Group Director at SAC until 1996, he contributed extensively to organise the work in the area of microwave technology and spacecraft electronics. He has also served as Honorary Professor at the

Gujarat University The Gujarat University is a public state university located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The university is an affiliating university at the under-graduate level and a teaching university at the postgraduate level. It is accredited B++ by NA ...

and has large number of publications in national and international journals. Shankara moved to ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore in 1996 as deputy director, Electronics Systems Area, to direct technical activities on spacecraft electronics like, spacecraft power systems, telemetry, telecommand and data handling, communication systems, assembly, integration and checkout of spacecraft. In 2001, he took over as Director, Satellite Communications Programme and Programme Director, INSAT at ISRO Headquarters, Bangalore, in which capacity, he was involved in the overall planning and direction of the communication satellite programme of ISRO. In 2002, he became the Director of Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad and remained at that post till 2005. He then became the Director of ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) and remained at the post since May 2008.

Awards

Shankara received the IETE-IRS (83) award for 1995-96 and was also awarded “Om Prakash Bhasin” award for “Space and Aerospace” for 1998 and “Ramlal Wadwa Gold Medal” for “Outstanding contribution in Electronics” during 2000 by the IETE. He received Astronautical Society of India award for “Space System Management” in 2000http://www.asindia.org/shankara.aspx Astronautical Society of India's site and “VASVIK award” in 2001 for contribution in “Electrical & Electronics and Science & Technology”. He was also awarded Appreciation Award from National Biomedical Engineering Society of India. In 2004 he was awarded Padma Shri for his contribution in the field of Space Technology.

References

External links

K. N. Knsankara
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankara, Koodli Nanjunda Ghanapaathi 1947 births 2017 deaths Engineers from Karnataka Indian Space Research Organisation people Indian lunar exploration programme Indian Institute of Science alumni Indian aerospace engineers Scientists from Bangalore Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering 20th-century Indian engineers